Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Secret Avengers #21.1Secret Avengers #21.1
Marvel Comics
Remender, Zircher & Troy

The new creative team takes over on Secret Avengers with the dreaded ".1" issue. However, in this particular case the ".1" issue actually is a one-shot and it appears to be a jumping on point for new readers. Remender starts out by telling a straightforward story and then in standard Remender fashion the book has a surprise and grows all sorts of arms and legs by the end. Upon completing the issue I was totally sold and for a jump-on point I think it's done it's job. If you are looking to dip your toe into the Avenger pool then this is as good as it gets.

Captain America and Hawkeye are on a top-secret international mission. While they are diving out of planes and hopping from rooftop to rooftop they do some verbal sparring. Essentially Hawkeye is being a pain towards Cap and Cap eventually gets under Hawkeye's skin but psychoanalyzing him. This occurs immediately after a failed mission where Hawkeye sort of drops the ball.

However, the issue doesn't end there. This is where Remender turns an ordinary book into something more Remender-like. Cap gets captured and Hawkeye comes to his rescue. Remender dusts off (or re-creates) an incarnation of the Masters of Evil in what comes across as a stroke of genius. I won't spoil the players or the ending but things get crazy and it all sets up a new status quo for the Secret Avengers. This has the potential of an Uncanny X-Force epic.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsZircher's pencils appear much tighter in this issue as opposed to the work done in Hulk over the past few months. As is the case with a lot of Remender's work the artwork has to sell the dialogue and the expressions and Zircher does that to perfection. One aspect of the art that I really liked was the shading done in several key scenes. For example the shades of green done against the backdrop of the city is particularly eye-grabbing. I really enjoyed the art in this issue.

I'm a new reader to this title and I felt right at home. The first half of the book was fairly straightforward and it bordered on kind of dull. The book turned the corner in a big way in the second half and I ended up heavily anticipating the ending. I think that means the ".1" has done its job. I definitely recommend picking this issue up. This is just too much fun to pass up.

4 out of 5 Geek Goggles